Does one wear stripes of rainbow and parade the streets to flaunt pride? 

Does one eat salad of six-color variety to commemorate pride? 

Does one sleep on rainbow-theme feather bedding to celebrate pride ala-sleeper?

My first Pride celebration experience was a memorable one. I had had Dim-Sum with friends at a little quaint Chinese eatery. Steamed stuff started our day on this cool June summer day. We finished stuffing ourselves just in time for the grand parade. By golly, my ever-clever friends got us the first class view of the entire parade. 

The mid-morning started off with one trumpeter churning out "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" amidst the silenced, yet crowded street. I got all teary eyed! It was so emotional. Thoughts of loved ones who lost lives to AIDS came crashing in. 

I stood with the crowd to watch the parade romped by. I was in awe. It was my first! 

There were rows of beautiful men, awesome ladies, cool dykes, and even 'rainbow-dyed' pets. It was a fiesta of colors, feathers, leathers, tattoos, underwear, skin, and muscles (lots of them)! 

There were gay parents, straight parents, grandparents, bosses ... and the whole nine-yard! Everything ended with parties of course! I partied like there was no tomorrow. 

This last public celebration was years ago. 

I wonder what do People Like Us actually do to celebrate pride? 

Or do People Like Us not care at all about pride? 

Or are we not proud of our pink lives? 

Or is it a societal force? 

As I reminisce upon my moments of celebrating pride, I ponder ...  

Do we actually need all the grandeur and pomp to exhibit our pink gratification, or ...

Do we just need to open-up to ourselves in solitude to solemnize our sexual preference? 

And Happy Pride to You, too.